Method and means for applying hair bleach



I Oct. 20, 1936.

8. R. SEVERN I METHOD AND MEANS FOR APPLYING HAIR BLEACH Filed July 14, 1935 INVENTOR Seq/1a Raf/1 Sever/7 B 4 0 y ATTORNEY Patented Oct. 20, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Segna Ruth Severn, Sunnyside, N. Y.

Application July 14, 1933, Serial No. 680,346

4 Claims. (01.128-165) This invention relates to improvements in methods and means for applying hair bleach to the arms and legs.

In the bleaching of the hair on arms and legs,

5 considerable difficulty is encountered due to the rapid evaporation of the bleach before it has had an opportunity to effectively exert its de-colorizing action. This is particularly true of liquid compositions and is also true of paste compositions such as mixtures of white henna and peroxide, which dry quickly, and because of their chalky character and thin spread, fall into dry powder before the bleaching is accomplished. With both liquids and pastes, re-applying for a period of hours might work, but such procedures are distinctly messy and the necessity for careful and uncomfortable postures held for long lengths of time to avoid contact with clothing and furniture is practically unendurable.

Such difficulties are not met with in the matter of bleaching the hair of the head due to the fact that the mass of the hair retains the bleach for a suflicient length of time to permit the desirable bleaching effect to take place.

Stockings or armlets may be formed to particular modelsand do not give satisfaction with all types. Some types may be long and slim, short and slim, long and full, short and full, with variations of size and proportions therebetween.

In addition, the slimness in ankle and wrist necessary for proper fitting cause difficulty in pulling on the garment and cause the associated absorbent carrier to be pulled out of place. In addition, at the ankle and. wrist portions there is danger of tearing the rubber protection in stocking or armlet form unless great care is used.

Other devices and articles have been proposed, but all of them require custom made members and are inherently expensive and are not adapted for easy manufacturing production and general sale at substantially reduced prices.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a method of bleaching the hair of arms and legs in a single application. It is a further object of this invention to provide such a method and means including absorbent means for bleaching adapted to be conformed to the member of the body to be treated and further means associated therewith to retain the same in position while preventing the evaporation of moisture from the bleach.

It is also an object of this invention to provide an improved combination expansible armlet or stocking with an adjustable bandage associated 5 therewith.

It is a further object of this invention to provide such an improved combination armlet and bandage having absorbent carrying means associated with the bandage portion, the whole being adapted to be readily applied to the members of 5 a person and adjustably secured in place.

In my prior application, Ser. No. 637,428, filed October 12, 1932, there has been disclosed a novel method and means for substantially eliminating the appearance of objectionable hair on the body 10 and comprising an improved combination bandage having a bleaching or absorbing portion and an associated water or liquid impervious covering for the same identically formed therewith or separately attached thereto.

In the practice of the present invention a suitable bandage of paper, cloth or other material is treated with a bleaching agent, such as hydrogen peroxide, and the so-treated bandage is applied to the forearm or calf of the individual 20 who is desirous of rendering the hair upon such body members substantially invisible. Thereafter a protective bandage is wrapped around the first said bandage whereby not only to retain the same in place but to prevent evaporation of 25 the liquid portion of the bleach and thus insure its complete and eflicient action upon the hair of the arms and legs.

To insure the retention of the absorbent bandage in position and at the same time to permit 30 the wearer to carry on ordinary occupations and.

to sleep while securing the advantage of a continuous application of bleach over aperiod of hours or even the major portion of a day or more, the improved means of the present invention 35 comprise the following construction:

A rubber sleeve or stocking member of sumcient size to fit over the elbow or knee, as the case may be, is made in any suitable manner and a bandage strip of the same material is attached thereto, preferably along the bottom portion of the seam if one be present. This bandage may be attached by vulcanizing or in sewing, or any 7 other suitable manner as by means of snap fasteners. The bandage may be straight out or cut 45 on a bias, and is adapted to be wrapped over and around the absorbent bandage, whereby to hold the latter in place and to prevent the evaporation of the moisture.

At the free end of the bandage, separate straps 50 may be attached thereto to permit the same to be secured and tied in place. It will of course be appreciated that separate fastening means may be made use of without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Also, slits and other means of fastening may be used as well as snap fasteners and tie members.

While sheet rubber has been indicated as a suitable material for use in the manufacture of the improved sleeve member, and/or the associated protective bandage member, it will of course be appreciated that desirable results may be obtained by the use of oiled silk or other protective fabrics in the manufacture of either the sleeve members or the protective bandage members. Where nonelastic fabrics are used it is to be understood that the members will be substantially form fitting to give the desirable results of the present invention.

The bleach applied by the present method will last several months, varying with the quality of the hair. For example, a dark and lively growth will require repetition of the treatment in two months or more. It will thus be seen that many women would have great trouble in keeping a bleach permanently when using the old dabbing or paste treatments. For instance, it would take and the discomfort involved make such treatment prohibitive to busy women of today, and particularly those engaged in business.

The present method makes bleaching of the hair of the arms and legs eminently practical and simple and it is distinctly more than a mere convenience as such matters are generally understood. Thus the method and means herein disclosed make possible something which has heretofore been a practical impossibility. The method may be more readily understood by reference to the attached drawing in which are disclosed, by way of example, embodiments of the improved composite bandage members of the present invention, which are illustrated by way of example only as it is not intended to be limited to the particular construction here shown, except as such limitations are clearly imposed by the appended claims.

In the drawing, like numerals refer to similar parts throughout the several views, of which Figure 1 is a schematic figure showing the method of application of the improved bandages to the forearms and calves, certain parts being shown in broken section to show the construction of the bandage member.

Fig. 2 is a combination bandage and associated armlet or stocking member.

Fig. 3 is a section through a composite absorbent and moisture-proof bandage member, and

Figs. 4 and 5 show modified means of attaching the protection bandage member to the armlet, including snap fasteners and looping devices, and

Fig. 6 is a further modified form.

Referring more particularly to the drawing, in the bleaching of hair on arms and legs, an inner absorbent bandage l0 containing a suitable bleach is applied to a calf l I (or forearm l 2) upon which is shown by way of example hair l3, which it is desired to bleach and render substantially invisible. The absorbent bandage I0 may be impregnated with hydrogen peroxide or any suitable bleaching agent, care being taken to use only such materials that will not induce or cause an erythematous condition on the skin of the stockingette portion as shown more particularly in Fig. 2 comprises a rubber strip 20 secured to a sleevelet or stockingette 3|] in any suitable manner as by vulcanizing along the seam line 3| indicated in Fig. 2 or by means of snap fasteners 40 as shown in Fig. 4, or the seam portion 3| of the body portion 30 may be slotted as indicated at 50 in Fig. 5. In addition to the foregoing constructions, the seam 3| may be provided with sliding fasteners 3Ia as indicated in Fig. 6. The slotted portion 50 permits the free end 2| of the member 20 to be passed through the slot 50 and held in position by wrapping the member 20 around the lower portion of the member 30. The member 20 may be provided with an eyelet 22 at the free end thereof through which eyelet a tying strap 23 of suitable material may be passed and secured in position about the wrist or ankle as indicated at 24 and 25 respectively in Fig. 1, the ends being tied in a suitable knot as shown.

While a separate absorbent bandage ID has been indicated as desirable for use in the practice of the present invention, a combination bandage having absorbent inner facing Illa and an impervious outer facing 20a may be provided, as shown in section in Fig. 3. It will now be seen that there has been provided an improved method and means for bleaching hair on arms and legs which method comprehends the continued application of a suitable bleaching agent to the hairy portions of the arms and legs and the association with an absorbent bandage containing such a bleaching agent of an impervious bandage member which is attached to an armlet or stockingette at one end and then conformed to the absorbent bandage and secured to the other end of the forearm or calf, the whole being characterized by an essentially adjustable form fitting construction, thus making for freedom and ease of movement on the part of the person under treatment as well as avoiding or minimizing any inconvenience while undergoing such a bleaching treatment.

The invention also comprehends, in addition to integral bandage members, permanently associated with either a retaining armlet or stockingette, the use of separate armlets or stockingettes to which the protective bandage members may be secured as by means of snap fasteners or by passing the end of the protective bandage through suitably positioned and formed slots.

I claim:

1. The improvement in methods of bleaching hair upon arms and legs which method consists in applying bleach retaining bandage members so as to enclose the fore arms and calves respectively, fitting expansible form fitting sleeve members over the elbows and knees respectively, securing a protective bandage member to each of said sleeve members, wrapping said protective bandage members so as to cover the bleach retaining bandages, and securing the free ends of the protective bandage at the wrists and ankles respectively.

2. The method of diminishing the visibility of hair on a limb of the human body which includes soaking in a liquid bleaching agent a continuous absorbent covering having sufiicient thickness to retain a substantial quantity of the bleaching agent, completely enclosing said limb with the soaked covering so as to assure continuous contact of the moist bleaching agent with the hair for a period of hours until the bleaching of the hair is completed, and encasing the covered limb with an impervious covering so as to retain the bleaching agent moist until the bleaching of the hair is completed.

3. The method of diminishing the visibility of objectionable hair on a limb of the human body in one operation which includes applying a bleaching agent to a continuous covering having suflicient texture to retain a substantial quantity of the bleaching agent, completely enclosing said limb with the covering containing the bleaching agent, completely enclosing said limb with the covering containing the bleaching agent so as to assure continuous contact of the bleaching agent with the hair until the bleaching of the hair is completed, and encasing the covered limb with an impervious covering so as to protect the bleaching agent from contact with the air until the bleaching of the hair is completed.'

4. The method of diminishing the visibility of hair on a limb of the human body which includes soaking in a liquid bleaching agent a continuous covering having an absorbent portion of sufficient thickness to retain a substantial quantity of the bleaching agent, completely enclosing said limb with the soaked covering so as to insure continuous contact of the moist bleaching agent with the hair for an extended period of time until the bleaching of the hair is completed, said covering encasing the limb and having a portion impervious so as to retain the bleaching agent moist until the bleaching of the hair is completed.

SEGNA RUTH SEVERN. 

